The Ford Barn

mcgarrett · 06-11-2025, 08:14 PM

A friend just bought a nice '56 Victoria and says the fuel gauge doesn't work. Using a volt meter, he checked the wire going to the tank sender from the gauge with the key ON but didn't show any current. With the key ON should that wire show current? I was under the impression the sender worked as controlled resistance but I'm not certain. I'm not up on trouble shooting fuel senders of this vintage so I would appreciate some guidance on how to proceed with tracking down the problem and correcting it.

miker98038 · 06-11-2025, 08:24 PM

Yes. Power to the gauge. The sender is to ground with variable resistance. Might check to see the tank itself is providing a proper ground. Not unknown for the gauge to not read because of that. And they weren’t terribly accurate when they did work.

Check the gauge terminals to a good gound under the dash for voltage, and then with the sender side disconnected check to ground for ohms. Should read something there. If it’s open, it’s either the wire, the sender or the tank not grounded. Birds had a plate in the trunk to get to the sender, I don’t know if the Vic’s did. Someone here will.

Just in passing, 56 are 12 volt gauges. 55 and earlier were 6, and 57 later used a drop resistor to 6 (or so) from 12.

mcgarrett · 06-11-2025, 08:38 PM

Just wanted to be sure the sender wire is supposed to be hot. We'll do some digging to see what might be wrong.
Thanks for the feedback.

40cpe · 06-11-2025, 08:39 PM

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To determine if it is the gauge or the sender: With key on, check for voltage at the power post of the gauge. If you have voltage there, turn key off and attach a temporary ground to the sender terminal of the gauge. Turn ignition back on and quickly observe if gauge is moving. If it moves, gauge is probably good. Quickly turn ignition off and remove ground. The defect is in the sender or wire to it, or tank not grounded.

06-11-2025, 08:14 PM	#1
mcgarrett Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Corsicana, Texas Posts: 1,306	'56 Victoria fuel gauge inop A friend just bought a nice '56 Victoria and says the fuel gauge doesn't work. Using a volt meter, he checked the wire going to the tank sender from the gauge with the key ON but didn't show any current. With the key ON should that wire show current? I was under the impression the sender worked as controlled resistance but I'm not certain. I'm not up on trouble shooting fuel senders of this vintage so I would appreciate some guidance on how to proceed with tracking down the problem and correcting it.

06-11-2025, 08:24 PM	#2
miker98038 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Kent, WA. Tucson, AZ Posts: 1,625	Re: '56 Victoria fuel gauge inop Yes. Power to the gauge. The sender is to ground with variable resistance. Might check to see the tank itself is providing a proper ground. Not unknown for the gauge to not read because of that. And they weren’t terribly accurate when they did work. Check the gauge terminals to a good gound under the dash for voltage, and then with the sender side disconnected check to ground for ohms. Should read something there. If it’s open, it’s either the wire, the sender or the tank not grounded. Birds had a plate in the trunk to get to the sender, I don’t know if the Vic’s did. Someone here will. Just in passing, 56 are 12 volt gauges. 55 and earlier were 6, and 57 later used a drop resistor to 6 (or so) from 12. Last edited by miker98038; 06-11-2025 at 08:39 PM.

06-11-2025, 08:38 PM	#3
mcgarrett Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Corsicana, Texas Posts: 1,306	Re: '56 Victoria fuel gauge inop Just wanted to be sure the sender wire is supposed to be hot. We'll do some digging to see what might be wrong. Thanks for the feedback.

06-11-2025, 08:39 PM	#4
40cpe Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Star, MS Posts: 4,120	Re: '56 Victoria fuel gauge inop Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) To determine if it is the gauge or the sender: With key on, check for voltage at the power post of the gauge. If you have voltage there, turn key off and attach a temporary ground to the sender terminal of the gauge. Turn ignition back on and quickly observe if gauge is moving. If it moves, gauge is probably good. Quickly turn ignition off and remove ground. The defect is in the sender or wire to it, or tank not grounded.